Douche appliance



March 28, 1944. MARWN v 2,345,275

DOUCHE APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 12, 1941 Patented Mar. 28, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE 2,345,275 DOUCHE APPLIANCE Thomas L. Marvin, Chicago, I11. I Application February 12, 1941, Serial No. 373,604 I 2 Claims. (01. 2 99 s4 The present invention is directed to a douche or spray appliance of very simple construction, which is designed to provide a chamber for the retention of a medicament or the like through which a current of water is directed for the purpose of providing a medicated or otherwise impregnated solution for injection into the interior oi the body through a nozzle or spray, or for exterior application as a shampoo or similar treatment, or for purposes other than the cleansing or medication of the human body.

The device is adapted for attachment to one or a pair of water faucets, and provision is made for the passage of clear water or a medicated solution as occasion may require.

Further objects and details will appear irom the description of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing, wherein,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the appliance of the present invention, showing the same attached to a water faucet;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through the appliance, showing the valve controlling the admission of water to the medicament chamber in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the valve in open position; and

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the device.

Referring to the form of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the device is in the form of a cylindrical casing 20, which is closed at its upper end by a screw cap 2|, and provided through its lower portion with a water channel 22 which extends in a horizontal through the casing, and is offset at its discharge end 23 which registers with a nipple 24 adapted to afford a connection for a rubber tube 25 to which the nozzle or spray tube 25 is connected. The water channel is bored or cored through the base of the chamber, leaving a partition wall .21, which afiords a floor for the medicament chamber 28.

The water flow is controlled by a vertically extending valve member 29 which is threaded through aligned bores and 3| and extends across the water channel. The valve member terminates in a reduced. stem 32 extending through a packing 33 in the base of the casing and carries an adjusting button 35 at its lower end. The button is provided with a pointer 35 adapted to register with symbol such as C and.

O, which indicate respectively when the valve has been adjusted to valve closing and valve opening positions. Stop pins 35 and 31 are provided direction partially for limiting the movement of the valve button to the positions of adjustment indicated.

The valve member 29 is provided with transversely extending bores 38 and 33, the former of which is of much larger diameter than the latter, although of less diameter than the water channel 22. The valve member at its upper end terminates in a reduced shouldered extension M! which carries a disc 4| the margins of which overlie a relatively large inlet port 42 and a relat-ively small outlet port 43 drilled through the floor of the medicament chamber and into the water channel. Water is admitted to the channel through a nipple 44 which furnishes a connec-' tion for a tube 45 leading to a water faucet 43. The bores 38 and 39 through the valve member, being of less capacity than the water channel, the arrangement will afford a partial barrier between the inlet and outlet ports 42 and 43, which assists in diverting a portion of the water now up into and through the medicament chamber,

With the valve member closed as in'Fig. 2, the larger transverse valve bore 38 will stand in aligned relation with the water channel, and the valve disc 4| will be seated against the floor of the medicament chamber to close the ports 42 and 43. In this position of adjustment, clear water will flow through the device, and no water will be admitted tothemedicament chamber.

With the valve member turned through ninety degrees as in Fig. 3, the smaller transverse valve bore 39 will align with the water channel 22, and at the same time the valve disc 4| will be lifted to unseal the ports 42 land 43, thus admitt-ing water to the medicament chamber to dissolve the powdered or granular medicine therein contained, which is discharged as a solution to commingle with the water current flowing through the channel 22.

With the parts thus adjusted, the direct water flow through the channel will be partially obstructed by the reduced diameter of the valve bore 39, thereby affording a barrier which assists in diverting a portion of the water upwardly into the medicament chamber, into which it is admitted through the port 42 and radially diverted beneath the margin of the valve disc 4|, so that it will enter near the wall of the medicament chamber, and after being impregnated with the dissolved medicine will be discharged as a solution through the port 43 to commingle with the stream of clear water and medicate the same to the desired degree for discharge through the nozzle or other fitting.

The device in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 by the stops 36 and 31, which are located at the extreme positions of its range of movement, it is obvious that it may be adjusted to intermediate positions if so desired. It is also desirable to provide a suitable clamp device 48 of conventional type, which can be fitted to the rubber tube 45 to completely shut off the water flow through the tube as occasion may require.

The device as a whole is designed to provide a simple and efficientdouche appliance, which can be manufactured and sold at a minimum cost and which at the same time will afiord an easy and certain method of regulating the flow of liquid to the point of discharge.

It can be readily cast from aluminum or'other non-corrosive materials or plastics, and constitutes a very attractive and serviceable device which may readily be carried in a small box or pocketbook, and attached to any water faucet and used as occasion may require. At the same time the simple and rugged construction of the device will prevent mal-adjustment or breakage of parts, and the device as a whole can be manufactured and sold at an extremely low price.

Although the device of the present invention has been shown and described as usable in connection with a spray tube or nozzle for the introduction of a medicated solution into the interior of the human body, it is not the intention to limit the deviceto such use since it may be advantageously employed with a spray head or the like directly attached to the casing for the purpose of delivering either clear water or a medicated solution for shower bath purposes or for shampooing or similar cleansing operations where soap flakes or the like may be introduced into the medicament chamber for the purpose of delivering a soap solution or other special treatment required in shampooing or similar use. 7 Furthermore, in large sizes, the device may be used for purposes other than cleansing or medicating the human body, such for instance as in the spraying of insecticide solutions employed in plant cultivation, or in cleaning or polishing operations of various kinds too numerous to mention. It will therefore be understood that it is not intended to restrict the utility of the present device in any way, but that it is intended to claim all similar or analogous uses in which provision is made for the delivery of a medicated or otherwise impregnated solution obtained by the employment of a device of the character described.

I claim: I

1. In a douche appliance, the combination of a casing provided in its upper portion with a medicament chamber and provided in its lower portion with a water channel communicating with the medicament chamber through inlet and outlet ports, a valve member extending transversely of the water channel and provided at its upper 'end' with a disc shaped portion adapted in its lower position to close said ports, a pair of transverse intersecting bores oi difierent diameters through the valve for alignment with the said channel, means to raise the valve so as to open said ports to provide for an inflow from the water channel to the medicament chamber through the inlet port and thence through the outlet port back to the water channel while water flows in the channel through the small bore or to lower thev valve and thereby close-the ports While permitting a greater channel flow through the large bore. m

2. In a douche appliance, the combination of a casing provided in its upper portion with a medicament chamber and provided in its lower portion with a water channel communicating with the medicament chamber through inlet and outlet ports, a rotatable screw-threaded member extending transversely of the water channel and provided with two intersecting transverse bores of different areas extending therethrough for selective alignment with the water channel and provided at its upper end with a disc-shaped portion adapted when in retracted position to close the inlet and outlet ports while the larger transverse bore is aligned with the water channel and adapted by screw adjustment of the valve member to be lifted to open said ports to provide for an outflow from the Water channel to the medicament chamber through the inlet port and thence through the discharge port back tothe water channel, the smaller bore through the valve member being positioned to permit a restricted flow of waterthrough the water channel when the disc-shaped valve is lifted to establish communication to and from the medicament chamber.

THOMAS L. MARVIN. 

